Despite Washington's insistence that military actions against Libya will stick to the UN mandate of protecting civilians, a U.S. expert questioned the real intent behind the intense air strikes on the North African country.

Ted Carpenter, an expert with the Washington-based Cato Research Institute, said the real goal of the initial U.S.-led military mission is to unseat the country's long-serving leader Muammar Gaddafi.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) TED CARPENTER, CATO INSTITUTE:
"The reality is that the protection of civilian maybe a secondary goal of the intervention, but the real goal is to unseat Muammar Gaddafi. But for a variety of reasons, the president feels he can't openly admit that is the primary objective."

Carpenter said the current military actions by the U.S. and its NATO allies have already gone beyond the UN mandate and what the Arab League had approved of.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) TED CARPENTER, CATO INSTITUTE:
"It goes beyond the approval of no-fly zone that the Arab League passed the resolution, even before the UN Security Council resolution. So the U.S. and its NATO allies are already having troubles with the Arab League that even the airstrike and the missile strikes have gone beyond the UN mandate and what the Arab League had approved. If the coalition comes out openly about overthrowing Gaddafi, then the coalition is well-beyond these mandates."

Carpenter said that the coalition is hoping Libya's rebel forces, with the assistance provided by the air strikes and missile strikes, will be able to move to Tripoli.
  
But he cautioned that this is a "very optimistic" scenario.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) TED CARPENTER, CATO INSTITUTE:
"I personally question the rivals, even with that level of assistance, will be able to get rid of the Gaddafi regime. Gaddafi's base of support is and has always been in the western part of Libya, so the further the rival forces go, the more resistance they will encounter, as they did in the initial offensive that is going to put pressure on allies to increase the level of involvement in this war. That is a very dangerous passivity for the U.S. and the other members of NATO."

Carpenter also expressed his deep concerns that the U.S. might get entangled into yet another mire of war.